Needlework at the Hermitage

We recently took a cruise in the Baltic, one of the ports was St Petersburg in Russia. We took a tour of the Hermitage and I was pleased to see some needlework on display. I took pictures to share, they are not very good because of the glass but here they are for you to see.

We enjoyed the cruise starting in Holland, stopping in Germany, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Denmark and back to Holland. I was disappointed that the Danish Cross Stitch Guild shop is no longer in Copenhagen, but I found a booth at the market in Helsinki selling kits to make mittens and of course had to buy one.

Kitty

This post has nothing to do with embroidery. We are taking care of our daughter's cat and this morning she needed a warm lap to take a nap. She is sitting on my doll and my Mother's doll in my Dad's childhood rocking chair. Isn't this the sweetest Kitty you have ever seen? She doesn't like her picture taken, but she must have been tired and didn't care today.

Gold Work - Diploma Class at the RSN

I just returned home from San Francisco, California where I took my first Diploma Class as the Royal School of Needlework. My tutor was Elizabeth Elvin, you can read about her here http://www.royal-needlework.org.uk/Elizabeth_Elvin.html She is an excellent tutor and we had a wonderful group of ladies. Our class had four students, two taking the gold work Certificate Class and two taking the Diploma Class. The projects were all very different and all were lovely!


I usually post a picture of my finished projects, thought I would do something a little different this time.

This a is picture after a couple days of work, framing up on my slate frame, painting the design on the silk fabric and the beginning of the padding before adding the gold.

Have you ever seen the back of a gold work project? This is a mess, but I think it is interesting to see the mess and appreciate the front. All of the ends of the gold have to be plunged with a large needle, this can take hours.

The basket is padded with carpet felt, craft felt and string and then the gold is couched down on top. The edge of the basket is padded with soft string and satin stitch, cut work on top. The pea pod is kid leather. The pumpkin is Or Nue, Japanese gold couched down with different colors of floss, this took a day and half to complete. The leaf in the middle is stumpwork, silk fabric with a wire around the edge. The corn is beads with plate for the husk.

And finally the finished project all framed. I am very happy with my project. The tutors assessed it before I flew home so I could bring it home with me and not have to have it shipped, I haven't got my score yet!

If you are interested in taking classes at the Royal School of Needlework, check out their website for classes and dates: http://www.royal-needlework.org.uk/

MS Walk 2010

Thank you to everyone who donated to support my walk, I raised $230.00, pretty exciting to beat my goal. I am a little slow in updating my blog, we completed the 4 mile walk on April 11th and then I left for my class. I think the signs say most of what needs to be said about our walk.

We will be ready to walk again next year, so watch for the posting when we have the date!

Thanks again for your support!

Canvas Work Project

Thanks for coming back to see what I have been doing.

I really have been stitching even though I have not posted anything lately.

This is my canvas work project that I started last October when I taught how to transfer a photograph to canvas at my local ANG meeting. It is getting closer to being done, just need to finish the grass, another bush on the left, the door and then plant a few flowers. There are lots of fun stitches in this project.

I met a lady in England last year who showed me how to make flower petals or leaves by cutting organza with a hot knife, that is what the peach is near the building. I have painted white organza several different colors and will be planting flowers soon. Pretty interesting technique, I have several ideas of projects where I can use the organza to make leaves and/or flowers.

2010 Seattle MS Walk

Our daughter and I will be walking in the MS walk again on April 11th. We are hoping for another beautiful day to walk from the University of Washington to Gasworks Park and back to the University of Washington again.

If anyone would like to help by donating in my name please click here MS WALK

Thanks in advance for whatever you can do to help me meet my goal of $150.00. I will post pictures after our walk.